On Tuesday 13 January 2015, Samantha Cameron hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for ‘Charity Champions’.

Conservative MPs and parliamentary candidates from across the South of England and Wales nominated two guests from their constituencies who they considered to be 'charity champions' to attend a reception in their honour at 10 Downing Street.

Prospective MP for Taunton Deane, Rebecca Pow, nominated Adam Fouracre of Stand Against Violence and Barrie Palmer from Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment.

Adam Fouracre said: “I want to thank Rebecca for choosing me to go to this event. It was a fantastic evening and I thoroughly enjoyed not only meeting a variety of interesting people, but also the honour of being inside Number 10.”

Adam set up Stand Against Violence (SAV) in 2005 following the tragic murder of his 17 year old brother, Lloyd Fouracre. SAV is a specialist violence prevention charity that focuses on the reduction of interpersonal violence through research based primary prevention measures; namely education. The charity has three primary aims; to promote good citizenship among young people; to demonstrate the consequences of violence; and, to equip young people with the skills they need to handle potentially violent situations.

Barrie Palmer said “I was delighted to be asked by Rebecca to attend a reception held by Samantha Cameron and Number 10. It was wonderful to meet Samantha and all of the other fantastic people in the Country who do so much for their communities and to be able to explain others just what SURE has achieved and what we continue to do. It was the visit of a lifetime.”

Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment (S.U.R.E) is a local cancer charity founded in 2000 by Barrie Palmer. It has wide spread local support in the Taunton Hospital catchment area and since their fundraising began they have provided over twenty items of advanced technology, along with a facility to make screening masks for patients with facial and throat cancers. The emphasis for S.U.R.E. is now to help the Beacon Centre at Musgrove Park Hospital to remain a “Centre of Excellence”. S.U.R.E. will continue to help cancer patients receive the best possible treatment with the best chance of cure or recovery.

Speaking on the visit, Samantha Cameron said: “It was a privilege to meet Adam and Barrie from Stand Against Violence and S.U.R.E at 10 Downing Street. Their amazing work is changing the lives of individuals and families across Taunton Deane and it was an honour to celebrate their work at the reception for charity champions.

Rebecca said: “Wherever I go in the constituency I am constantly heartened by all the people doing such useful and selfless work to help others in Taunton Deane and I was delighted to have the opportunity to take two of our community champions to Number 10 to meet Samantha Cameron, who does so much charity work herself.

“Through his work with Stand Against Violence, Adam Fouracre is delivering much needed programmes in schools throughout the constituency and further afield to educate young people on safety, anger and aggression control so that they learn to take responsibility for their actions. This is an area I consider  increasingly important, particularly in the light of some inappropriate cases presenting at our A & E departments and taking up precious NHS time. My other guest was Barrie Palmer who has been instrumental in getting the acclaimed Beacon Centre off the ground at Musgrove Park hospital which, since its creation in 2009 has become a centre of excellence for cancer care. Both Adam and Barrie are inspirational figures in our local community.”